Two sensible decisions have been made in the last week that recognise the immense challenges of both fieldwork and paperwork currently faced by farmers and their advisers.

Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien and Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue have eased the rules on post-harvest shallow cultivation, giving farmers 28 days instead of 14 days to complete the required fieldwork.

The move will go some way to easing the workload in very difficult harvesting conditions and, importantly, reduce the risk of farm accidents as farmers scramble to comply with regulations.

ACRES

Minister McConalogue also announced a four-week extension to the closing date to submit scorecards under the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES).

It is important that this extension has no subsequent impact on payments issuing to farmers.

Meanwhile the window for lime spreading continues to narrow, as 41,000 farmers wait for any news from the minister or his department on how much of a grant they will receive under the National Liming Programme.